It’s a good idea when you’re trying a new ethnic restaurant or in a foreign country to observe the other diners on how to use condiments or how they eat the food.

For example, when dining in a Japanese restaurant for the first time, I had the awkward experience of being served what looked like “burrito.” I poked it with my chopsticks, curious. Luckily, before I tried to take a bite out of it, I saw a fellow patron, open his “burrito” and wash his hands with what turned out to be a hot, wet towel!